Mounting losses

SoftBank's plight, compounded by the impact of COVID-19 on some other investments, has attracted scrutiny of the Vision Fund's practice of showering potentially successful young companies with cash.

T-Mobile is valued at around $120 billion (€138.16 billion): DT currently owns close to 44% of T-Mobile US, and SoftBank about 25%.

If the negotiations are successful, it is thought that DT will own more than 50% of the company.

Separate transaction

CNBC reports that SoftBank is also selling part of its stake in the telecom via a secondary offering, to be underwritten by Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

DT is looking to its US opco as a major driver of growth and this looks to be a golden opportunity, although the integration of the companies at all levels is critical and DT is facing a mammoth task. Merged companies frequently add up to less than the sum of their separate parts.